A collection of healthy recipes that taste too good to be good for you, but they are!
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Thursday, December 24, 2009

Tangerine, Banana and Apple Juice with Ginger

Knowing that the next few days are going to contain heavier food than we typically consume I decided we would start today with a nice light fruit drink. As though of you that read regularly know I light to get a couple of fruit servings in for breakfast since this is the food group I don’t consume as much as I should.

This morning’s juice blend contained a bit of everything. I added the bananas for potassium and creamy texture. Tangerines were added for vitamin C and their membrane. The membrane in citrus fruit has been linked to both cholesterol reduction and fighting cancer. Once I read that I stopped supreming my citrus. Apple cider was used for its intense flavor but you could also substitute apple juice or even water. Ginger is anti-inflammatory so I tossed that in the blender as well. Cinnamon was included to assist the body to process all the natural sugar that is contained in this juice. Flaxseed was added for its omega 3 fatty acids. We typically start our day with a tablespoon of ground flaxseed for the omega 3 fat. Here is the juice I made this morning.

This juice tasted very sweet to me, probably because we have dramatically reduced our consumption of sweetened foods. Next time I may use less apple cider. The flavor combination was nice. The juice tasted mostly of apple with the other flavors in the background.

Each serving of this juice contains approximately 780IU of vitamin A, 40mg of vitamin C, 70mg of calcium, and 40mcg of folate. I really like that this juice has 10 grams of fiber and 1000mg of potassium. This is a quick, tasty and healthy breakfast that you can eat on the run.

Unrelated note:

I have many things to do today to get ready for tonight and tomorrow. Italians celebrate the feast of the seven fishes on Christmas Eve, and this year I have decided to make a few of those traditional dishes vegan. Additionally, I have a few things to do to get ready for Christmas. I will be back later today with another recipe when I get 30 minutes to relax. I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season.

That looks and sounds absolutely healthy and refreshing! I love fruit smoothie for breakfast but it's impossible for me to make it during this hectic time. I'll definitely give this recipe a try on my day-off.

Best wishes for a Merry Merry Christmas to you and your family, Alicia!

p.s. I'll come back to read the older posts tomorrow night, talk to you soon:)

I made this mahvelous beverage this afternoon (and there is some left over for this evening), and wanted to thank you for sharing! Due to an absence of ingredients, I had to make some substitutions (don't you just hate that? You come up with and post a perfectly wonderful recipe, and then some nitwit comes along and says, "Hey, I made your thing, but instead of tangerines I used avocado, and instead of apple cider I used beer, and instead of ginger I used leeks.") Okay, my subs weren't THAT bad, so don't go gettin' your Italian up. (I have no idea what you're talking about, my temperament is patient, calm, quiet and never angry. And I NEVER talk with my hands, either. *snork*)

So I used one orange instead of two tangerines, organic apple juice in lieu of cider, tossed in about 3 TBSP of cranberries I had left over and had no clue what to do with, and used regular flaxseeds instead of golden. So our drink wasn't the same pretty color as yours because of the dark flaxseeds, but it did have pretty red flecks in it from the cranberries! :-) It is REALLY delicious! More of a dessert than a drink! We'll be making this often, and maybe even with the proper ingredients! LOL